The June flight from Los Angeles to New York was bad enough, cramming the legs of a 6-foot-8 body into coach is never easy, but Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was just getting started.

A delay getting to NewYork caused a missed connection, and resulted in a hotel stay. Then it was off to Paris, and another connection to Doula, Cameroon.

Already exhausted from a too-long-to-remember travel day, Mbah a Moute, along with his closest friend this side of the pond, Alfred Aboya, chose a four-hour drive rather than another night in a hotel. By the time Mbah a Moute and Aboya arrived at the used-to-be five-bedroom house of his parents in Yaounde, it was 1:30 a.m.

Mbah Moute couldn’t remember which day it was anymore, nor did he care. For the first time in four years, UCLA’s junior starting power forward was home.

“I wanted to sleep in my bed,” Mbah a Moute said about his trip home last summer. “When I got there, there was a whole, huge meal made for me. There was so much food.”

When Mbah a Moute left his hometown of Yaounde and headed to Montverde (Fla.) Academy for his junior year of high school, he said goodbye to family and friends and traditions and comforts. He didn’t know it would be four years until he said “bon jour” again.

In his time away, Mbah a Moute went from a wide-eyed boy to a grown man with worldly experience. He also returned home an accomplished basketball player, which was cause for an explanation.

Neither his mother (Agnes Goufane Ziem) nor his father (Camille Moute a Bidias) had seen him play basketball in person, and both planned to travel to Atlanta last spring to watch UCLA in the Final Four. However, Camille underwent last-minute emergency eye surgery and could not fly, and Agnes experienced visa problems and never made it.

Mbah a Moute was hoping his parents would make the trip to San Antonio, where UCLA will meet Memphis in the NCAA Tournament’s first national semifinal Saturday, but learned this week they will not attend.

But unlike a year ago, Mbah a Moute has the memories of being home recently to help soften the disappointment.

“To have the chance to go back and see his parents and friends was important in terms of finding your roots and going back home,” said Aboya, who is also from Yaounde. “It gave him a new energy.”

When Mbah a Moute arrived at UCLA, Coach Ben Howland and teammates used to get a kick out of the cultural differences between Southern California and Central Cameroon. Among Mbah a Moute’s favorite meats is viper (yes, the snake).

The first thing Mbah a Moute and Aboya did after driving from Doula to the capital city of Yaounde on their trip home last summer was eat. And eat, and eat.

Among the meats and fish at the spread were some traditional Cameroon dishes, including Ndole (a meat or fish dish that includes peanuts and vegetables).

“It took like three or four hours to eat,” said Mbah a Moute, who has three sisters and four brothers. “After that, I talked to my little brother and little sister for a while. I never felt so good.”

Mbah a Moute, a prince in Yaounde by virtue of his father being the chief of a village (think mayor in the U.S.), said he saw his parents twice each during the past four years. Both made trips to United States.

He also has one brother (Arlmel Minyem) in Maryland and another (Jean Emanuel Bidias a Moute) in Texas.

“The nicest thing is having Alfred here and their friendship, their relationship in supporting one another,” Howland said.

But Mbah a Moute said the trip home allowed him to re-connect with his family, and refresh his memory of his hometown. Wikipedia lists Yaounde’s 2005 population at 1.4 million, and Mbah a Moute said it is nothing like the dirt roads and shacks many Americans believe it to be.

He said it is a bustling city. The streets are narrow and packed with cars, and bicycles are a popular mode of transportation.

“It’s a lot like here,” Mbah a Moute said. “But there are less buildings, more crowded with people.”

He spent 31/2 weeks at his parents’ home, which was distinctly different than when he left. Absence might make the heart grow fonder, but it made his folks’ bedroom bigger. They knocked down the wall separating their bedroom from Luc’s, creating a larger room.

“I had to sleep in the guest room,” he said. “But it was very nice.”

He worked out most mornings to remain in basketball shape – he would play for Cameroon in the African Cup in late July – but said he spent most of the days talking with family members and visiting friends he had not seen.

When it came time to return, Mbah a Moute felt a tug on his heart.

“I didn’t want to get on the plane,” he said, but added he never wavered in his plan to return to UCLA, but did try to extend his stay a few more weeks.

Little did he know he would go home again a few weeks later. He was picked to represent Cameroon in its bid to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics at the African Cup. The team missed out when it lost to Angola in the title game, but Mbah a Moute was able to make it home for a few days.

“That place is like the center of my life,” Mbah a Moute said. “You can move out, but you still have to go back. Once I’m done playing basketball, I’m definitely moving back.